Winberries?

[caroline7758]

My MIL buys up all the winberries (if that's the right spelling) in the couple of weeks they are available in the shops and makes lovely pies with them. Does anybody know why they are so scarce and why we can't buy them to grow? Or maybe we can?

[caroline7758]

[saddad]

Whin berries in my part of the world.. probably no harder to cultivate than blueberries but never tried... haven't had them since I moved out of the Pennines in'79.
:(

[Toadspawn]

Whinberries (whimberries in S Wales) occur wild on acid upland areas in many parts of the country. The production of fruit varies each year and it takes a long time to pick enough to make a decent tart/pie (depends where you live).
Blueberries are similar, they are bigger plants and produce more fruit and can be grown easily in the garden or in pots as long as the soil is acid. As far as I know whimberries would not make good garden plants. They are part of 'natures wild harvest'.   

[caroline7758]

So are they the same as bilberries?

[saddad]

I think so Caroline...
:-\